Where's the Next Episode? (2)
—Lee Jin-wook is back!
The viewer bulletin board exploded once again.
The promo team eagerly stoked the flames, tossing in more fuel.
They released an edited making-of video, showing angles of Koo Je-man and Lee Jin-wook's faces that hadn't made it into the broadcast.
The fish that had swum right into the net chomped away at the bait without a clue, gobbling it up greedily.
It wasn't just Jeong Seo-hoon stealing the spotlight.
Cha Do-jin found himself reevaluated, up on the chopping block anew.
Just as viewers were boiling over, gnawing at the bait, a fresh chunk was lobbed onto YouTube.
It was a video of Jeong Seo-hoon sketching with a sharp gaze.
Edited from various angles, it captured soldiers so vivid they seemed alive.
No matter how they toyed with the bait, viewers' hearts were all the same.
The production team was in a celebratory mood, like raising a toast.
Lee Jin-wook's return twist had landed perfectly with viewers.
Viewers who'd been lounging around were now groveling, cleaning up the mess, and the hype was blazing.
During the production meeting, Song Jeong-woo said with a pleased grin.
"Lately, I'm living for the viewer reactions."
"I'm living for writing while imagining our actors' performances."
"So? Ratings not gonna check?"
"Spill it already. What'd we get?"
"Peak of 14.7% at Lee Jin-wook's final scene."
"Another record broken. At this rate, we'll hit 20% around episodes 8 or 9."
Kim Sang-hee muttered to herself, and the other staff's hearts sank.
She never jinxed like that lightly. Bad luck and all.
"Episodes 8, 9? I say we top 20% before that."
"Nah, too soon."
But this PD and writer couldn't care less, chugging kimchi soup like it was nothing.
"PD-nim. PPL offer came in for Lee Jin-wook—no, Jeong Seo-hoon."
"PPL? Since when do we bend over for that crap? How much?"
"Double our rate. They specifically want Jeong Seo-hoon. Episode 4 reactions must've hit hard."
"What about you, Kim writer?"
Song Jeong-woo turned to Kim Sang-hee for her take.
"What's the product? Snacks, drinks, kimchi? Pass."
"Clothing, luckily."
"Better. What exactly? Shirt? Pants? Outerwear?"
"Suits."
"Wait, when does Lee Jin-wook ever wear a suit... No, hold on."
Kim Sang-hee scowled, gears turning, then brightened with a nod.
"Good. Take it."
Jeong Seo-hoon was getting hundreds of texts a day.
Broadcast insiders, somehow getting his number, bombarded him with long congrats-and-networking messages.
Jeong Su-ryeon checked them one by one, smirking smugly.
"This is normal. Contacts in this industry are public goods. Time to get a separate personal phone."
"This is my personal phone."
"It's business-only now. Oh, and never give your personal number to broadcast folks. Not Song PD, not Kim writer—nobody."
"Talking like I'm continuing acting."
"You quitting after this? Your value's gonna skyrocket for the next gig."
"Wanna graduate ASAP."
"You're ahead of the curve anyway. Take it easy. Who's that Park prof nagging you to do grad school?"
Of course he'd keep acting.
When the camera rolled, he could bask in those longed-for scenes to his heart's content.
But this was rehab training.
The old Jeong Seo-hoon would've never missed a chance to tease a blood-sworn enemy.
He had to maintain normal behavior here relentlessly.
"Look. Three major agencies already inviting you to dinner. Team leads, no less. Keep this up, you'll be pulling nine figures before 30."
"Better knock out that last semester quick."
"One semester left—you can do it anytime. Hey, we gotta meet these agencies and score some free meals. I'll schedule later."
Jeong Su-ryeon dusted off and stood.
Jeong Seo-hoon suddenly wanted confirmation he was pulling off everyday life.
"Noona. I don't seem different on the outside, right? Nothing weird."
"You are right now. 'Noona'? First time in five years? Hit it big and got cocky? Gutted me?"
The day viewers had been dying for—episode 5—finally aired.
From the start, Koo Je-man and Lee Jin-wook locked eyes in tense standoff.
Thoroughly mismatched conversation.
Each hurling only the questions they wanted answers to.
Yet viewers felt no awkwardness. It flowed naturally, like a stream to a river.
Lee Jin-wook smiled faintly, as if he'd been waiting.
No way he'd remember.
Not like student gallery visits were rare.
In the brief silence, Lee Jin-wook's smile deepened, Koo Je-man's pupils quivered faintly.
Koo Je-man got chills.
Killing Kim Si-ho was just the start, a rehearsal.
In that instant, shock flooded Koo Je-man's body.
A painful stain from his judicial past he'd erased.
He'd opened his firm vowing to protect the weak after that blemish, but now he drove a Bentley, courting Gangnam housewives as a divorce specialist.
Lee Jin-wook's eyes gleamed with joy—like a devil's verdict.
Not who, but how many more.
Look at this guy.
Then and now, he effortlessly pierced to the core.
As episode 5 ended, viewers hurled Molotovs at the board again.
Gloomy music played low.
The soldier stared blankly at his own emotionless confession of murder on TV.
Then the writer's text arrived.
The soldier recalled the camera rolling.
In the crater engulfed by brutal explosion, his long-time junior, blood-soaked and dead.
No more bleeding, no moving—yet staring at him with fixed eyes from behind Koo Je-man till the end.
Till the camera cut.
In that isolated trench holdout, his final cries to let comrades escape, fighting to the last.
"Go! I'll hold here! To the end, as many as possible—I'll kill!"
Jeong Seo-hoon replied.
With that reply, Jeong Seo-hoon set his phone aside for good.
What He and She Are Hiding (1)